I was recently computing happily along, not suspecting anything, when suddenly things began to go terribly wrong. Web pages stopped loading. My email connections timed out. I could not remotely access my clients’ networks. The situation was serious. Then my wife told me that she could not get to any web sites. The situation had…
One of my clients recently mentioned to me that they are preparing for an annual inspection required by the regulations that govern their industry. One of the issues that they are dealing with is an expanded scope of due diligence with regard to their vendors; they are now being required to formally vet any vendors…
When I’ve talked to a small business owners about using virtualization in their IT infrastructure, one of the most consistent questions I’ve gotten – well, after “what’s that” – amounts to “why – what’s the advantage?” This is certainly a valid question, and it’s one I had to think about in order to articulate the…
I’ve been using virtualization technology for several years now – first with VMWare (Workstation, Server, and Player), and then with VirtualBox. I tried Xen very briefly while looking at OpenSUSE, but never did use it on a day-to-day basis. Until now, I had only ever used desktop OSes (operating systems) (mostly Linux, but some Windows…
In my post Returning to Windows After 15+ Years I wrote that I was switching to Windows 7 after using various distributions of Linux or FreeBSD for over 15 years, and provided a brief explanation for the move. After several months it became apparent that the honeymoon with Windows 7 was over, and I wrote…
I liked the Mac Mini so much that I bought a Apple MacBook 13.3, with an Intel Core2 Duo P7550 at 2.26 GHz, 2 Gb RAM, 250 Gb SATA2 drive, DVD+-R/RW/DL, and WebCam with microphone. I wanted a very portable notebook computer with good battery life so that I could carry it to client sites…
In a recent blog post titled Returning to Windows After 15+ Years I described why I had abandoned Linux on the desktop in favor of Microsoft Windows 7 Professional. I’ve been living with that decision now for almost 7 months and I’m beginning to think I made a mistake. Don’t get me wrong – Windows…
…an Apple Mac Mini with 4 Gb of RAM?! Particularly when combined with an iPod or iPhone that has an app installed that is capable of acting as a remote control for FrontRow. Hardware Configuration To help you understand my enthusiasm, it might be helpful to provide an overview of our home entertainment infrastructure. We…
I purchased a Motorola Droid on the day they first became available from Verizon Wireless (VZW) – November 6, 2009. Because my previous contract had expired, I’d been toying with the idea of switching to AT&T to get an iPhone, but when the “Droid Does” ads began to appear I decided to wait and take…
Recently, Jason Hiner of Tech Republic posted an article on his blog saying that he was moving away from Windows and is now using Ubuntu Linux as his desktop PC’s primary OS (Operating System), with Windows 7 running in a VM (Virtual Machine). This is basically the way I’d had my desktop machine running for…